From Robinson Crusoe

The feast on New Year’s Eve brought an unprecedented lively atmosphere to the courtyard.

The two new members tasted the dishes made by Chen Zhou one by one, their eyes widened from time to time and they expressed various exclamations.

……

Under Chen Zhou's guidance, they gradually learned how to roll out dumpling wrappers, mix stuffing, and make dumplings, or picked up a kitchen knife to try cutting vegetables and create their own fruit platters.

Among the many dishes, Doduru’s favorite is stir-fried octopus legs.

In the tribe, no one would say that this strange creature with eight legs was edible.

If the number of octopuses on the seashore increases, the priest will tell them that this is because they have not worked hard enough recently, which has aroused the wrath of the gods. If they continue like this, a storm will soon send down to punish them.

The octopus's appearance is not pleasing to begin with, and after being given the special meaning of "God's wrath", it has become an object of fear for everyone in the tribe.

At first, when he saw Chen Zhou cut off the octopus's head and left only the eight legs on the chopping board, he was a little panicked, and subconsciously thought of the former God and His wrath.

After Chen Zhou blanched the marinated octopus legs in water, added peppers, onions and garlic slices and began to stir-fry, accompanied by the tempting aroma, Dodulu's inner panic suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by a strong appetite.

Ah Tuan is less courageous than Dodulu and doesn’t like spicy food. He didn’t dare to pick up the octopus legs with his chopsticks at first, but it was after Dodulu’s urging that he mustered up the courage to try it.

……

"How about it?"

Seeing his companion chewing and swallowing the octopus leg with a red face, Doduru asked in a low voice.

"It's hot and it hurts."

Atun couldn't eat spicy food as well as Duodulu. After he ate two pieces of octopus legs, a layer of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

The primitive tribe’s language does not have a rich vocabulary, so he has no way to describe the feeling called “spicy” and can only express it with pain and heat.

“Also, it’s delicious.”

Ah Tuan added, picked up the sliced lemon beside him, put it in his mouth, and his face soon wrinkled up because of the sourness.

……

While the indigenous teenagers were enjoying the banquet, other "veteran" members of the family were also celebrating New Year's Eve together.

Grapes, Little Gray, Bang Dang, Tiger Head, Gray Ball, Lai Fu, Little Totoro...

Depending on their preferences, some were eating fish, some were enjoying cooked mutton, or some were chewing on prawns.

Lai Fu, who had worked hard and made great contributions, was given a leg of lamb and he lay under the courtyard wall and tore it apart.

……

Interestingly, just a few days after being rescued, the native had a conflict with the family's cat.

At that time, they had just learned under Chen Zhou's instruction how to take care of crops and prevent wild animals such as rabbits, mice and birds from harming the crops.

The knowledge they learned was too much and too diverse. Even after returning to the cabin at night to consolidate and review, the two of them could not remember the key points.

Early the next morning, the two men found Gangdang wandering in the fields. They thought it was a wild animal that was harming the crops, so they picked up stones to hit it and chased it.

Fortunately, there were enough crops densely packed in the fields, and the bangs were small and flexible. In addition, Chen Zhou heard the shouts of the two people outside and arrived in time to stop them, thus avoiding the disastrous consequences of this farce.

Influenced by the farce that day, Gangdang still has a traumatic impression of the two natives. When eating, he has to avoid them and squat in a corner to eat alone.

Chen Zhou was also a little scared. After the incident of chasing Bang Dang, he chose a day when all family members were present and introduced the cats and dogs in his home to the two natives.

Lai Fu and his friends had met them a long time ago, but as for family members such as Ti Zi, Guang Dang, and Hu Tou, they felt very unfamiliar with them.

Especially Tiger Head, this guy's huge body is two times larger than other cats, with a sturdy figure and a majestic appearance, which shocked Dodulu and Atun extremely.

Needless to say, the two of them naturally and secretly gave Hu Tou a title of a divine beast.

……

The feast ended with dumplings stuffed with lamb and green onions.

The dumplings bubbling in the boiling water were made by Chen Zhou, but the ugly ones were made by the two natives.

In order to make high-quality dumplings, Chen Zhou lavishly used the fine flour he received as a reward.

The flour produced by modern industry is fine and white. The dumplings cooked from it have thin skins and large fillings. You can vaguely see the fillings inside through the thin skins. In addition, the oily soup that overflows from the cooked mutton and green onions is so delicious that the two natives almost swallowed their tongues.

……

Unlike the natives who are busy enjoying delicious food and all kinds of new things, Chen Zhou does not pay much attention to the taste and richness of food.

He enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

Recalling the New Year’s Eve of his first year on the island, he had a hard time putting together “four dishes and one soup”.

A cup of cold milk tea, a few pieces of candied fruit, a dish of cold kelp salad, stewed bird meat with kelp, and roasted wings...

The cave dwellings at that time did not have courtyards paved with stone bricks, did not have lights that were bright all night long, and did not have so many decorations and furniture.

The only family members who spent the New Year's Eve with him were Lai Fu, Xiao Hui Hui and Totoro.

Now, he has a tidy courtyard that gives him a sense of security, a group of pets, and companions who can communicate with him, respect him, and worship him as a god.

These many changes may be the true meaning of life on the island, and they are also the distant place he is willing to work hard to reach.

……

Pour yourself a glass of Arrack and savor its unique bitterness and sweetness.

Under the light, Chen Zhou leaned back in his chair, looking at the courtyard with a dazed look. His attention was not on the table full of dishes, nor on the two natives. It was as if he was looking through the entire island into the endless distance.

He saw his fragmented life, his ordinary first twenty-five years, himself studying, struggling, and working in a cement factory...

He saw many of his past friends, past family members;
The hustle and bustle of a big city and the hustle and bustle of a small village;

Toys in childhood, electronic products when growing up...

These relationships and objects that represent the past were cut off with a knife one night.

Then, his life entered a new stage.

……

Life and death, survival, hunger, confusion, and labor that I had never experienced before.

Even the fear of death, physical fatigue, and the ubiquitous sense of urgency.

The road ahead is shrouded in fog, and he must cherish every minute and every second to save his life.

He gets everything with his hands and creates everything with his practical strength and wisdom to improve his life.

The days pass by in such pressure and motivation.

To date, he has achieved many of his goals as he wished, set more new goals, and moved forward steadily.

……

The wine in the glass was almost gone, and Chen Zhou narrowed his eyes slightly.

Blending the past with the present, he knows clearly what kind of changes he has undergone from the challenges of the past two years.

He is no longer the caterpillar that is helplessly spinning in circles along the traces left by his predecessors.

Because of this challenge, at a certain point, he was forced to stop his slow march toward death and use his last bit of strength to weave a hard cocoon for himself.

The moment the cocoon is broken, he will draw endless courage and strength from it and spread his wings and soar.

……

The smell of alcohol gushed out of his nostrils.

The sounds in the courtyard became blurred.

Faintly, one could only hear the exclamations of two indigenous boys - Dodulu spat out a shining gold coin from his mouth and showed it off to Atun.

……

It's late at night and the stars are shining.

It's not the wine that makes people drunk, but Chen Zhou only drank half a bottle of wine, but he was already nine-tenths drunk.

The two natives ate until their bellies were full. After Chen Zhou announced the end of the banquet, they did not go back to the cabin to sleep, but quickly began to clean up the kitchen utensils and sweep up the kitchen waste. They were much more hardworking than the African blacks Chen Zhou had imagined, as if their brown skin contained the tenacity and diligence of East Asians.

They were busy until about three in the morning. After washing all the pots, bowls, spoons and chopsticks, wiping the table, and covering the leftover dishes with ceramic bowls and arranging them neatly on the table, they obediently closed the courtyard door and returned to their wooden house to rest.

……

1662 1 Month 1 Day.

The aboriginal boy was woken up by Chen Zhou before he had even slept for a few hours.

Looking at Chen Zhou's neat new clothes and clean face, the two people who had just crawled out of bed were confused.

"Hurry up and fold the quilt, wash your face and put on washed clothes, there is something important."

Thinking that today's worship of Wang Lingguan was an extremely serious matter, Chen Zhou still tried his best to perform even though he had no sense of getting into the spirit world.

Knowing that the natives could understand simple words like folding quilts and wearing washed clothes, Chen Zhou left after saying something coldly.

It’s not that he was too immersed in the role and had to pretend to be aloof in order to highlight the solemn atmosphere of the sacrifice.

But when he was speaking just now, he thought about the reason why he got up early today, and was afraid that he would not be able to help laughing out loud.

Last night, after the natives cleaned up the mess, he returned to his bedroom in a daze to rest and had a dream about a sacrifice.

He dreamed that he had a sudden idea and took out the magic stick that came with the Ultraman suit and used it as a magical tool for this sacrifice.

While the two natives were kneeling and kowtowing, he stood next to the statue of Wang Lingguan, wearing an iron pagoda, and raised the plastic magic stick in his hand in a very exaggerated manner, shouting "Transform".

The top of the magic stick opened up, emitting light, and a familiar song sounded in the temple -

"Just like the sun shines through the night, the dawn quietly crosses the horizon..."

At that time, the two natives were stunned by the colorful light emitted by the magic stick, and the sound coming from nowhere made them feel even more frightened.

Although they had no idea what the song meant, they could still feel the passionate power of the drum beats.

Only Chen Zhou was holding the magic wand like a fool, listening to the miraculous reappearance of the hissing low-frequency sound, his face almost convulsed with laughter.

The solemn and dignified sacrificial atmosphere was completely destroyed by the sound of transformation, which directly woke Chen Zhou up from his dream.

If not, it might have been another two or three hours before he woke the natives.

……

Since they gradually became able to do the work assigned by Chen Zhou, the two natives have rarely seen Chen Zhou look so serious.

After getting up, the two did not dare to slack off at all. They quickly cleaned up the room, took out a sailor suit that had just been washed two days ago from the wooden box where they stored their clothes, put it on, and hurried to the platform to wait.

After waiting outside the gate of the courtyard for more than half an hour, Chen Zhou, neatly dressed, walked out with heavy steps.

He carried a gun on each shoulder, and his entire face was hidden under the visor of his helmet. He stood in front of the natives like a cold sculpture.

Behind Chen Zhou, Lai Fu, whose hair had been simply combed, followed closely, and the collar on its neck was also wiped.

……

"war!"

The moment they saw the armor, the two natives instinctively thought of this word.

Realizing that someone had invaded the island, they subconsciously wanted to find weapons, but found that since arriving on the island, they seemed to have long forgotten how to use those wooden bows and arrows and wooden swords, but became more familiar with various tableware and farm tools.

……

"Come with me!"

The mask blocked most of his vision, so Chen Zhou had no time to observe the expression of the indigenous boy. He just lowered his voice deliberately and gave orders, then walked ahead.

"How can we fight without weapons?"

Dodoru thought to himself. He was about to offer his opinion when he suddenly realized that the warriors he was following were no longer from his former tribe.

It was not humans but gods who led them to start the war.

But God will never be defeated.

He forced himself to suppress his uneasy mood and glanced at Atun secretly. Seeing that he was looking straight ahead, as if he had nothing to say, Duodulu followed Chen Zhou and walked around the mountainside towards the sunny place.

……

The light was dim in the early morning and the air was slightly cool.

There was a thin layer of fog on the mountain road, and there were almost no birds singing or insects chirping.

As Chen Zhou moved forward, the armor made a sound of metal friction and collision, like a unique war song.

Having already determined that this was the beginning of a war, Dodulu wished he could put his eyes in the sky and look down at the earth to figure out who the enemy was.

But he didn't have that ability, so he could only follow the unrivaled god of war in his heart and move forward.

……

Just before reaching the cave decorated as a temple, Chen Zhou stopped, took out the gun from behind at the corner, and fired a bullet diagonally into the air.

The roar of the gunpowder explosion frightened the two natives so much that their legs went limp and they almost fell to the ground.

"The weapon of God roared. Another enemy must have fallen."

The two thought of this at the same time, and turned to look at each other, only feeling relieved when they no longer saw blood on their companion's chest.

……

Chen Zhou really wanted to compose a passionate eulogy, but his literary attainments were limited.

If we say that we are appropriating the poems of the ancients, it would be somewhat inappropriate and inappropriate.

He simply took silence as the main tone of the entire sacrifice. After firing the gun, he did not say anything, just turned a corner and continued forward.

Although the native boy was afraid, he was frightened by the gunshots. He was afraid that he would fall behind and be killed by the terrible weapon, so he followed closely.

……

Not long after they walked, the Temple of Wang Lingguan, which Chen Zhou had built bit by bit, appeared before their eyes.

Due to the limited space of the cave, the interior of the entire temple is not large, but the craftsmanship used is not ambiguous.

Chen Zhou, who knew little about ancient architecture, relied on his imagination to combine the characteristics of ancient architecture in his mind with the simple and industrial beauty of modern architecture, and built the entire temple using wood of various colors and textures.

At the temple gate stand two reddish columns with a plaque hanging above them.

The inscription reads: "The Mighty and Spiritual Manifested Heavenly Lord".

I pushed open the heavy door, stepped over the high threshold, and entered the temple, where the light suddenly dimmed.

A row of rattan futons were placed on the black wooden floor.

In front of the cushion was a long table that Chen Zhou had brought in. In the center of the table was a statue of Wang Lingguan, the Taoist guardian deity, standing on a wind-fire wheel and holding a golden whip.

……

After another empty shot at the door, Chen Zhou was the first to push the door open and enter the temple, standing beside the long table.

After the two natives followed him into the temple tremblingly, Chen Zhou directly ordered them to kneel on the cushion and kowtow three times.

……

My mood was already disturbed by Chen Zhou's series of serious and sacrificial actions.

Dodoru, who usually seems very active, had a blank mind at this moment and didn't even dare to look up at the statue.

Like a walking corpse, he instinctively followed Chen Zhou's instructions, knelt down on his knees like Ah Tuan, and then kowtowed.

At this point, the simple sacrifice came to an end.

But Chen Zhou didn't want it to end like this.

In order to deepen the two natives' memory of the sacrifice and to establish his own image as God's agent on earth, he loaded bullets into the two guns and announced the successful completion of the sacrifice with two gunshots.

Only then were the two natives allowed to stand up and follow him out of the temple.

The two were so frightened that they had no idea what the god they were worshipping looked like until the end of the sacrifice. (End of this chapter)